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CBS News/New York Times National Poll, January #1, 2013 (ICPSR 34991)

Principal Investigator(s):
CBS News;
The New York Times

Summary:

This poll, the first of two fielded in January of 2013, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on a range of political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling foreign policy, the economy, the federal budget deficit, taxes, and his job as president. Respondents were also asked whether they approved of the way Democrats in Congress, and Republicans in Congress were handling their jobs. Respondents' opinions were solicited on whether things were going better than they were five years prior, their predictions about how the United States would be five years in the future, whether they thought things in the country were going in the right direction, the condition of the national economy, and whether the economy was getting better. Opinions were also solicited on Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, John Boehner, Harry Reid, the National Riffle Association, and gun control laws. Respondents were asked how confident they were in Barack Obama's ability to make the right decisions about the economy, Afghanistan, protecting the country, and illegal immigration. Questions were asked about Obama's second term in office including whether respondents were optimistic about the next four years with Barack Obama as president, what they wanted to see Obama accomplish in the next four years, and whether they expected the economy and the health care system to improve by the end of Obama's second term as president. Opinions on the federal budget deficit were collected including the best way to reduce it, which programs respondents would be willing to change in order to cut spending, and who respondents trusted more to make the right decisions about the deficit. Multiple questions addressed the topic of firearms including bans on semi-automatic weapons, high capacity magazines, and people other than law enforcement carrying concealed weapons. Additionally questions were asked regarding background checks on potential gun buyers, the creation of a national database to track gun sales, and gun violence prevention. Additional topics covered include personal finance, job security, and consumer attitudes. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, household income, social class, employment status, religious preference and participation, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), whether respondents thought of themselves as born-again Christians, marital status, household composition, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status, voting behavior, and the number of phones in respondents' household.

This poll, the first of two fielded in January of 2013, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicits public opinion on a range of political and social issues. Respondents were asked whether they approved of the way Barack Obama was handling foreign policy, the economy, the federal budget deficit, taxes, and his job as president. Respondents were also asked whether they approved of the way Democrats in Congress, and Republicans in Congress were handling their jobs. Respondents' opinions were solicited on whether things were going better than they were five years prior, their predictions about how the United States would be five years in the future, whether they thought things in the country were going in the right direction, the condition of the national economy, and whether the economy was getting better. Opinions were also solicited on Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, John Boehner, Harry Reid, the National Riffle Association, and gun control laws. Respondents were asked how confident they were in Barack Obama's ability to make the right decisions about the economy, Afghanistan, protecting the country, and illegal immigration. Questions were asked about Obama's second term in office including whether respondents were optimistic about the next four years with Barack Obama as president, what they wanted to see Obama accomplish in the next four years, and whether they expected the economy and the health care system to improve by the end of Obama's second term as president. Opinions on the federal budget deficit were collected including the best way to reduce it, which programs respondents would be willing to change in order to cut spending, and who respondents trusted more to make the right decisions about the deficit. Multiple questions addressed the topic of firearms including bans on semi-automatic weapons, high capacity magazines, and people other than law enforcement carrying concealed weapons. Additionally questions were asked regarding background checks on potential gun buyers, the creation of a national database to track gun sales, and gun violence prevention. Additional topics covered include personal finance, job security, and consumer attitudes. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, household income, social class, employment status, religious preference and participation, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), whether respondents thought of themselves as born-again Christians, marital status, household composition, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status, voting behavior, and the number of phones in respondents' household.

Dataset(s)

Study Description

Citation

CBS News, and The New York Times. CBS News/New York Times National Poll, January #1, 2013. ICPSR34991-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2014-04-01. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR34991.v1

Universe:
Persons aged 18 years or older living in households with telephones in the United States.

Data Type(s):
survey data

Methodology

Sample:
This poll was conducted among 1,110 adults nationwide. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups may be higher.

Time Method:
Cross-sectional

Weight:
The data contain a weight (WGHT) variable that should be used in analyzing the data. The data were weighted to match United States Census Bureau breakdowns on age, sex, race, education, and region of the country. The data were also adjusted for the fact that people who share a telephone with others have less chance to be contacted than people who live alone and have their own telephones, and that households with more than one telephone number have more chances to be called than households with only one telephone number.

Mode of Data Collection:
telephone interview

Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of
disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major
statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to
these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

Armed Guards Deter Gun Violence
How much do you think more police or armed security guards would do to help prevent mass shootings in public places such as schools, movie theaters, and malls? Would more police or armed security guards help a lot, some, not much or not at all?

Mental Health Care Deter Gun Violence
How much do you think better mental health screening and treatment would do to help prevent gun violence? Would better mental health screening and treatment help a lot, some,
not much, or not at all?